Micro-Trains Line Z scale EMD GP35 diesel This extremely accurate model of an Electro-Motive Division GP35 is detailed enough for even the most demanding modeler. Rivets are visible (with a magnifying glass, unless you have young eyes), dimensions are right on, and the delicate, etched-metal handrails are accurate down to the number of stanchions. Micro-Trains […]
The 2006 National Train Show was held July 7-9 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in conjunction with the National Model Railroad Association National Convention in Philadelphia. We saw several new products at the show, so many that we had to split our report into two sections. Be sure to click on the link at the […]
Baldwin 2-4-4T Forney steam locomotive O scale locomotivesBaldwin 2-4-4T Forney steam locomotive. On2-1/2. Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes and painted black but unlettered. Digital Command Control-equipped, five-pole skew-wound motor, light-emitting-diode headlight, separately applied details, and vestibule cab with operating doors and interior detail. Inside- and outside-frame versions available. $275. Bachmann 0-6-0 and 2-6-0 saddle-tank steam […]
Norfolk Southern’s Linwood, N.C., classification yard Matt Van Hattem More than half of the hump yards in North America have closed in the past 25 years. From 152 operating classification yards in 1975, the number dropped to 122 in 1985, and 72 by 1993. In 2002, there were 59 active hump yards. The reasons for […]
Will the U.S. rails-with-trails movement continue gaining momentum? Or will rail safety and congestion issues stop it in its tracks? In the September 2005 issue, Trains Magazine looked at the issues surrounding locations where recreational activities and active rail lines coexist in a shared space. Want to sample some of these trails yourself? Below is […]
The 2006 National Train Show is being held July 7-9 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in conjunction with the National Model Railroad Association National Convention in Philadelphia. The following products listed below are just some of the new items announced today. Look for more National Train Show coverage next week. Richmond Locomotive Works 4-4-0 steam […]
At 17 feet, 5 inches, the caboose cleared all bridges and power lines on its 20-mile road trip. Steve Hendrix Preserving a 25-ton caboose in my backyard wasn’t something that I had always planned on. Sure, I liked trains as a kid and even have a small model railroad layout. But an HO-scale train circling […]
A westbound Capitol Corridor train, led by Amtrak F59PHI No. 464, makes a fine sight as it curves along the shore of San Pablo Bay in Pinole, Calif. Read on to learn about more picturesque train-watching locations between Oakland and Sacramento. Elrond Lawrence So you’re traveling to San Francisco, and have just a few days […]
Even before he joined Amtrak as a locomotive engineer in 1986, Doug Riddell had been operating the corporation’s passenger trains under contract as a Seaboard Coast Line engineer, and had been photographing their colorful locomotives and consists in and around his native Virginia since Amtrak’s inception in 1971. Here we present some of his favorite […]
Union Pacific’s M10000 and CB&Q’s Pioneer Zephyr side-by-side at Kansas City Union Station. END publicity photo The Streamlined Era For the industrial designer, no object was as enticing, dramatic, or attention-getting as the streamlined passenger train. Pulling together contemporary aeronautical theory and function, American designers in the 1930s created a whole new breed of streamlined […]
As Don Sims explained in the August 2003 issue of TRAINS Magazine, Beaumont Hill is a railroader’s term, taken from the small town of Beaumont, Calif., very near the 2591-foot summit crest of the former Southern Pacific Sunset Route linking Los Angeles and New Orleans. While much has changed from author Sims’ account of 1950s […]
Hot spot: Cajon Pass, California Cajon Pass is profiled in Kalmbach’s Guide to North American Hot Spots by TRAINS Senior Editor J. David Ingles. DescriptionHeavy mountain grade on BNSF Railway transcontinental (Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe) main line with separate rights-of-way for the north and south tracks (Tracks 1 and 2, respectively); Union Pacific operates […]
